‘Bring in the Feds’ – ex-gold board chair urges deep dive into smuggling scandal

Oct 22, 2025 News

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…says no solid info on wrongdoing surfaced during his tenure
…acknowledges US Embassy had provided him with list of names of suspected gold smugglers

By Renay Sambach

(Kaieteur News) – Former Chair of the Guyana Gold Board (GGB), Gabriel “GHK” Lall, is urging the Government of Guyana to bring in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to participate in the full-fledged probe that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has called for into those who may have aided and abetted the Mohameds in allegedly smuggling gold out of Guyana.

In June 2024, Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed, along with their businesses, were sanctioned by the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for alleged gold smuggling. While much attention has been placed on the Mohameds, Vice President Jagdeo had stated that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) must expand their current probe beyond the businessmen.

During his last press conference, Jagdeo had singled out Lall, who served as GGB Chair from March 2017 to February 2020, stating that an investigation should be conducted into him and other public servants and officials.

Responding at his own press conference on Tuesday, Lall first outlined that the Mohameds were indicted on several charges including gold smuggling, wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. He pointed out that no other names were mentioned in the indictment document that was unsealed earlier this month. “Somehow, accusations have been levelled against me… GHK Lall, that I helped the Mohameds to smuggle gold,” he said.

Lall responded to Jagdeo’s call for an investigation stating, “I absolutely agree with that… I absolutely agree with the full-fledged thorough investigation of what went on with this gold smuggling business, and all the related charges.”

He continued, “I absolutely welcome an investigation of myself but I would not stop at the Guyana Police Force, I would also encourage the government for us to have the best in a thorough and credible investigation by inviting the FBI of America to participate in that investigation.”

Lall noted that the fact that his name was singled out among all the government officials prejudices his rights and amounts to political persecution. Further, he noted that the investigation will be a test of whether the GPF conducts a probe that is professional or political. Lall added that he is confident the heads of the various state investigative bodies would want to get to the bottom of the allegations and identify the players in the web of gold smuggling.

Explaining the gold export process, Lall said that in legitimate exports, dealers are required to declare their gold to the gold board, pay the relevant royalties and taxes, and have their shipments inspected and sealed by officials from the GGB, GRA Customs and CANU before export. However, he noted that smugglers seek to avoid paying taxes and royalties by operating outside of this official process.

He outlined that U.S. authorities have alleged that the boxes and seals used in legitimate exports that pass through the Guyana Gold Board, were being reused by gold smugglers operating between Miami and Dubai. He explained that the seals are secure, each bearing a unique number. “So the way that I understand…once they are open they shouldn’t be useable again… once it’s open it should be broken and therefore for them to be reused the boxes and seals as alleged, it takes a lot of skills to do that, it takes a lot of cooperation to do that,” he explained.

Rumours of smuggling

Further, the former GGB Chair said that during his tenure, there were rumours of gold being smuggled but no concrete evidence. “We heard about smuggling from different sources, we heard it word of mouth in the yard, we heard about it from operations conducted by the government, and one whisper is that there is smuggling going on but as to the specifics of persons, groups that were possibly engaged in that, there wasn’t much more coming to us about that,” Lall said.

He added, “Intuitively we had a sense that this is not all of the gold.” Lall said that while the gold board has a duty to report gold smuggling to the police, there was not sufficient evidence to pinpoint those involved. “Were the names of the Mohameds or any other put on the table during my time in relation to gold smuggling. What I can tell you is that there were suspicion of different players major players involved in gold smuggling… so directly to your question the answer is no,” Lall said.

Moreover, Lall also disclosed that during his tenure he was called into the United States Embassy, where he was showed a folder that contained names of 40 suspected criminals of gold smuggling, drugs, money laundering and other crimes.

“They brought out a file, twice the size of this, it had about 40 names and pictures…” Lall said. He added that the 40 individuals were all Guyanese, “remember I’m new to this place at the time, so I didn’t recognised any of them.”

The former chair noted that he had shared the information with then Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman.

The Mohameds were indicted in a U.S. federal court in Miami, Florida on 11 charges of wire and mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and the importation of a Lamborghini luxury car- all stemming from accusations of massive tax fraud committed against Guyana. The indictment, unsealed on October 2, 2025, accuses the Mohameds of orchestrating an elaborate fraud and money-laundering scheme involving gold exports, customs fraud, bribery, and the evasion of millions in taxes and royalties owed to Guyana.

The case, captioned United States of America v. Nazar Mohamed & Azruddin Mohamed, is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida under case number 25-CR-20441 (WILLIAMS/LETT). Among the statutes cited are: conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349), wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343), mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341), conspiracy to commit money laundering (18 U.S.C. § 1956(h)), and related forfeiture statutes (18 U.S.C. §§ 981, 982).

At the heart of the US Government’s case, lies several core allegations, among them gold export fraud and customs seal reuse. The indictment seen by this newspaper charges that Mohamed’s Enterprise, the Guyana-based gold wholesaling and export company controlled 90% by Nazar and 10% by Azruddin, is alleged to have sold gold to buyers in Miami and Dubai, while circumventing Guyana’s revenue and regulatory system. The indictment claims that the defendants would reuse official Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Guyana Gold Board (GGB) customs seals and export declarations, originally applied legally on one shipment on subsequent shipments for which they had not paid taxes or royalties. This, prosecutors say, created the false impression that proper payments had been made.

Additionally, the duo is also accused of bribing state officials to facilitate their alleged corrupt acts. The indictment sets forth that the Mohameds paid bribes to Guyanese government officials, including customs agents to allow the acceptance of duplicate paperwork and reused seals. Through this mechanism, the scheme allegedly enabled the evasion of duties and royalties that should have gone to Guyana’s coffers.

According to the court papers from 2017 through June 11, 2024, the indictment alleges the defendants caused exports of at least 10,000 kilograms of gold to pass through Miami without payment of the proper dues to Guyana, amounting to a loss of approximately US$50 million to the Guyanese government. The indictment further charges the Mohameds with conspiring to transport, transmit, and transfer funds derived from their criminal scheme, including through international wire transfers, with the intent to promote the underlying illegal activity. The scheme is said to have used U.S. and foreign financial institutions to move illicit proceeds.

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• Azruddin Mohamed, Feds, Gabriel “GHK” Lall, gold smugglers, Guyana Gold Board, Nazar Mohamed, US Embassy

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